an ideal day in prague...

for me, today has been just about PERFECT.

after this morning's math lecture, which was more on topics related to my research with dr. z. so i was exceedingly interested, i've spent the day wandering on my own. since i stayed away from touristy places, i've managed to get a break from obnoxious travelling groups and from english language in general.

after this morning's lecture, i first took the metro to Vysehrad, a castle a little southeast of the main part of the city... it's up high and gives a great view, plus the church there has a cemetary which is full of countless famous czechs... the one i best recognized was dvorak's grave. even if you don't recognize all the names, the stonework in the cemetary was extremely unique and beautiful... i wandered there for a bit and through some of the park-ish areas up there, and then just found a bench with a good view and read for a few hours.

here's another trick to europe -- the 80 cent lunch. if you go to a restaurant, here in prague, avoiding the touristy areas, you can easily eat a huge meal for like $4-6... but sometimes you don't even want a cheap huge meal... if you go to a bread store though, for example today, i got a ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant and two sesame seed cookies for 19 crowns... 20 crowns is 80 cents, so i didn't even pay that much!... then took it to a garden to eat, and was completely set for the afternoon! :)

finally, the math building here is attached to the church of st. nicholas... originally the church formed a square, but they sold 3 of the 4 sides of it to the university and it's now math and computer science offices and classrooms and you can't get to the church from the university on the inside... nontheless, since it's a really famous old church i figured being on the other side of the wall from it all the time, i should check it out... it costs admission to go inside anyhow, and when i saw that there was an organ recital tonight, i just got a ticket for that... went to the dorm to change and grab cold water, and came back... now in 20 minutes, i get an organ recital and to finally see the church. :) the organist tonight is the head organist of a nearby monaastary... the program is mostly mozart, a little haydn, and a few czech composers i don't recognize. i'm looking forward to it. :) maybe afterwards i'll do the sandwich from a breadstore and go eat in a garden routine again... i rather like that. :)

happy thursday to all y'all. :)